2. PHOENIX: The Suns were a Robert Horry hip-check away from advancing to the Western Conference finals last season. They didn’t tinker much, adding only veteran Grant Hill. The big concerns in the Valley of the Sun are Amare Stoudemire’s third surgery in the past two seasons and Shawn Marion’s mindset.

3. DALLAS: Make no mistake, the Mavericks are still a really good team, but it says here they’ll never return to their pre-Warriors level. The additions of Eddie Jones and Trenton Hassell aren’t likely to make much of a difference.

4. DENVER: Carmelo Anthony seems poised to have an MVP-type season. He’s virtually unguardable on the perimeter. If Allen Iverson can effectively be a No. 2 option, the Nuggets are looking at homecourt advantage.

5. UTAH: Most have the Jazz on the rise, but it says here that there will be negative fallout from the Andrei Kirilenko-Jerry Sloan situation.

6. HOUSTON: Rick Adelman takes over for Jeff Van Gundy, which means the Rockets will play more up-tempo and score more points. The only problem is that Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady aren’t really suited to anything but a slowdown style.

7. WARRIORS: I’m not convinced the Warriors are better than they were at the end of last season, but at the moment, Baron Davis and Don Nelson seem content. And that twosome can push you a long way. The Warriors will also benefit from the fact that no team beneath them in the standings improved enough to leapfrog.

8. NEW ORLEANS: Injuries decimated the Hornets a season ago, but they hung around the playoff race till the final week of the season. With betterhealth, the Hornets should be there.